Serhiy Marchenko also said in an Associated Press interview from Kyiv on Thursday that a major €18 billion ($18.97 billion) aid package with Hungary would cover much of Ukraine’s looming budget gap. He said he believed EU officials would resolve the dispute. .
Marchenko said the financial aid to Ukraine was paltry compared to what developed countries spent to deal with emergencies such as the 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. . And the money will enhance freedom and security far beyond his home country’s struggles, he added.
“It’s not a charity that helps Ukraine,” Marchenko said. “We are trying to protect freedom and democracy in all civilized worlds.”
political cartoons
Ukraine needs external funds to cover its budget deficit caused by the war. Cash and loans help avoid printing money at the central bank to meet basic needs such as paying the national pension.
A proposed EU loan worth €18 billion would cover most of Ukraine’s budget shortfall, along with major US support and possible support from the International Monetary Fund. But Hungary is blocking the European package over a dispute with Brussels, which fears democratic setbacks in Budapest and possible mismanagement of her EU funds.
“Of course, it makes us uneasy and we fear that it will block or delay the flow of funds to Ukraine,” Marchenko said. Ukraine’s efforts for independence. “
Total aid to Ukraine reached €113 billion as of this week, according to data compiled by the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Aid Tracker. for the global economy.
“Now is not the time to postpone aid because we are fed up with Ukraine and its problems … because next time we will realize that without Ukraine, Russia will be closer to the borders of Europe ‘ said Marchenko.
“This is about self-preservation, self-defense. This should be kept in mind by EU citizens,” he added.
Ukraine has profited on the battlefield but is suffering from Russian attacks on critical infrastructure, leaving millions of Ukrainians without regular access to heat, electricity and water in freezing temperatures. United Nations officials say
Marchenko noted that the number of Ukrainians living in poverty was “dramatically increasing”, in addition to people losing electricity and heat, and that inflation was up from It is above 26% and could rise to 28% by the end of the year, he said.
Governments are working to increase some pensions, and Western donations go toward social and humanitarian aid.
“We will use all the resources available to us to ensure that our people can survive in this state,” he said.
Marchenko said the war would leave behind Ukraine’s previous reputation for corruption and political influence by prominent businessmen known as oligarchs.
Ukraine has improved its score in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in recent years, but it still ranked 122nd out of 180 countries before the war.
Now, “there is no time for oligarchs, there is no time for corruption in Ukraine,” Marchenko said.
“And I hope that this myth and story about corruption in Ukraine will disappear after the war,” he said.
Marchenko’s stance on corruption was also echoed by Torbjörn Becker, director of the Stockholm Institute for Transition Economics, during the online book launch of Rebuilding Ukraine: Principles and Policies by the Paris-London-based Center for Economic Policy Research. was
“If they hadn’t spent their money wisely when the country was under attack from a neighbor like Russia, they would have lost the war by now,” Becker said.
“So the fact that Ukraine is still there and defending its territory is one piece of evidence that corruption should not be the focus when talking about aid to Ukraine,” he said. added.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
